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Monday, January 31, 2011

well, i might as well mention what my special project is now. it's already been promoted by my lovely friends and a couple of other worthy site. yay!

a few weeks ago, i received the email that put all of this in motion. a lovely woman, stephanie, and the founder of the organization Tiny Handprints contacted me. she started TH after she lost her precious 10 mo old baby boy, Jacob, in 2007; and i found her site shortly after i lost Juju. we communicated on several occasions via email, and since she was located not too far from where i live, i offered her my help any time she needed it. i was so inspired by her and her work, that i was even considering maybe persuing something similar in my area in the future {she even sent me, free of charge, 5 kits to help me get started}. well, when i received her email, i got chills thinking that Juju might have had a hand in it. she told me that she had been following my blog, and had been thinking of me {i was immediately humbled and honored}. she also went on to say that unfortunately she was going to have to close TH, and wanted to know if i wanted to, essentially, carry on the work that they started.

to say that i was even more humbled and honored would be an understatement. it left me speechless that she thought highly enough of me to ask me if i wanted to do this and carry on the legacy that Jacob started. i was also completely overwhelmed thinking of all the things that i would need to do in order to pull this off, but decided that i would do it anyway. i figured that if it had been placed in my path, it must be because Julius wants me to do it. my heart is wide open because of my son, and it's for him that i live the life that i have left on this earth. and so, In His Name was created {because well, i'm doing everything these days in Julius' name}...

we will continue to send out the "SIDS Survival Kits" that stephanie and the TH team developed to families in our immediate area (alabama and tennesse) that have been affected by SIDS﻿. and will also be providing information, assistance, and comfort to any family that should contact us. we know first-hand how deep this pain runs, and want to be there for those who are unfortunate enough to find themselves on this dark road as well. if you would like to help, please go to In His Name and donate. all donations will be used to purchase the books that will be sent in the kits.

i also want to take some time to promote the great work and new project that franchesca from Small Bird Studios is doing. o, and did i mention that she is the sponsor of my monthly giveaway for febuary? so stop back by tomorrow to see what the giveaway is. anyway, as i mentioned before, she is a fellow BLM and lost her precious Jenna Belle in 2009. since then she has also been doing all she can to help bereaved parents, and make the world a better place in her baby girl's name. she has started the "Jenna Journal Drive" to provide new journals to NICU parents so that they have a way to record/document their memories with their precious babies while in the NICU and beyond.

journaling has always been an outlet for me, but it means even more now as it is my way to continue to stay connected with my baby boy. so when i saw her post, i knew that i also wanted to help with this. i will be collecting journals locally for this drive. if you are local to me {or even if you are not} and would like to donate a journal for the drive, please let me know. my goal is to collect at least 20 journals for franchesca and Jenna. all the journals that we send to franchesca will have a sticker inside saying that the journal was provided in memory of Julius. ♥ if you would like to send a journal or donate on your own, no problem, just click the button above and it will direct you to the post with the information.

thank you all for your support and your help. you all are amazing, and i don't know where i would be without you...♥

**updated to add that i will be sending the journals off to franchesca at the end of feb/beginning of march. so if you want to send a journal through us, let me know**

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comments:

I love life's little synchronicities (or fate as I like to believe). Just LAST NIGHT I had a dream about you. In it you were beaming and smiling while you were helping to organize a prayer service for someone (creating pamphlets, lighting candles, setting up chairs etc). I remember feeling such peace when I looked at your face and saw how content you were to be helping others through a crisis. I agree that the work you are doing must be channeled through Julius!

Just thought I'd share that after reading this post and the wonderful projects you are embarking on.

GASP!! TIFFANY!!! YAY!!! IM SO PROUD/HAPPY/EXCITED/OVERWHELMED WITH EMOTION FOR YOU!!! :D I LOVE YOU, AND WILL BE BEHIND YOU SUPPORTING YOUR WONDERFUL CAUSES EVERY STEP OF THE WAY!!! BECAUSE BEHIND EVERY BLM IS ANOTHER ONE HOLDING HER HAND!! <3

Hello Tiffany, I found you through Rebecca's blog and while I've followed your story since you're son's passing I haven't commented much. I just never felt like I knew what to say and was afraid I'd say something to compound your hurt instead of ease it. But I have held you in my heart and thought about you and your beautiful baby boy many, many, mant times in the past months.

I know a musician who also lost her son to SIDS. His name was Otto and he was only 8 days old when he died. His mother released a CD about a year after his death and included this song that she wrote for him. It's a beautiful song and whenever I hear it, which is often, I think of Otto and I think of Julius. I thought about sending you a link to it many times but was never sure if that were too forward of me. But I guess I'll just do it. Feel free to ignore this if you want, or listen, whichever feels right. I'm sorry I can't send it to you, I lost all my music recently. Luckily you can listen to it here:http://www.myspace.com/petracovich/music/songs/you-are-this-perfect-78101784

I'm so happy to hear you have such a wonderful way of carrying on Julius's legacy with the Tiny Handprints organization. I know Julius is very proud.

This is awesome! And thank you for sharing Fran's project as well. I have received several journals and I just don't use them. It's nice to know I can donate them to her and they will go to a good cause!